Tunisia's Ministry for Women and Family Affairs demanded in October that the government prosecute the publisher of the children's magazine Qaws Quzah (“Rainbow”), aimed at ages 5 to 15, for an article on how to construct a gasoline bomb (the “Molotov cocktail” in America). The country has been rocked by the same kind of upheaval experienced in other Arab countries, except less so since its longtime president stepped down rather quickly in January 2011.

Suspicions confirmed

Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston found recently in tests that 10th-grade students who play video games (especially shooting and sports games) regularly score just as high in robotic surgery dexterity as resident doctors. The lead researcher said that surgery simulations (for example, suturing) have built-in unpredictability for training purposes, but since complex video games are laden with unpredictability, players logging at least two hours a day with the joystick may even slightly outperform residents.

Oops!

College student Courtney Malloy, 22, was rescued in November after getting stuck about 1 a.m. trying to cut between two buildings in Providence, R.I. The space between City Sports and FedEx Kinko's was 8 to 9 inches, said firefighters, who found Malloy horizontal, about 2 feet off the ground and “unable” to explain how she got there.

Leslie Newton, 68, was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol officers near St. Augustine in December while driving erratically. He also had a portion of a traffic sign embedded in his skull after colliding with it.